Financial crisis
Bank Indonesia investigation officer arrested
Indonesian anti-corruption officials have arrested a prosecutor investigating allegations of misuse of central bank funds on suspicion of bribery.
Credit crunch – phase two
The credit crisis that started in August last year has moved into a destabilising second phase, with equity markets and the real economy looking increasingly shaky. This section analyses central banks’ response to the long-running crisis
Interview: Charles Goodhart
Claire Jones spoke with the former Bank of England policymaker about the co-ordinated liquidity interventions and the move towards aggressive policy easing by the Fed
News analysis: Forced into action
Claire Jones, the editor of Central Bank News, analyses how uncertainty threatened to cripple the interbank market and called for a unique response from the central banks
BoE's Lomax notes dramatic shift in outlook
The persisting financial turmoil and the build up in global inflationary pressures have led to a dramatic change in the outlook for 2008 and beyond, Rachel Lomax, a deputy governor at the Bank of England, said.
Philippines looks to end special vehicles
The central bank in the Philippines is seeking to draw a line under special purpose investment vehicles that are a legacy of the Asian financial crisis that erupted more than a decade ago.
World Bank poll less pessimistic than IMF outlook
Financial turmoil is likely to have a relatively small impact on the global outlook, the World Bank's optimistic Global Economic Prospects finds.
IMF to review central bank response to turmoil
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to investigate the reaction of leading central banks to the interbank turmoil that hit markets in the wake of the subprime crisis.
Fed's Poole says risk of recession unclear
William Poole, the president of the St Louis Federal Reserve, said on Wednesday that it was still too early to tell whether the housing sector's problems would push the US economy into recession.
Fed's Rosengren calls for banks to declare losses
Banks must fully disclose their losses to limit the damage of the subprime fallout, says Eric Rosengren, the president of the Boston Fed.
Central banks partly to blame for crunch
The creation of excessive global liquidity by key central banks was one of a number of phenomena that led to the current financial crisis, says Willem Buiter, a former member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, now an economics professor…
Northern Rock shows fallibility of communication
The run on Northern Rock, a British mortgage lender, illustrates the potential downside of central bank communication around stability issues, says Gary Stern, the president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.
Fed minutes reveal clear shift in outlook
The minutes of the December meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), published on Wednesday, reveal a more dovish Federal Reserve than was suggested at the time.
ECB could hike rates, says Orphanides
The European Central Bank's rate-setting governing council will not rule out raising interest rates, Athanasios Orphanides, a member of the council and governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, said on Thursday.
Time has proved us right, says Trichet
The European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to inject hundreds of billions of extra euros into the money markets to alleviate tensions looks to be the correct one, says Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the central bank.
Fed to conduct auctions for "as long as necessary"
The Federal Reserve said on Friday it will continue to run Term Auction Facility auctions twice a month "for as long as necessary to address elevated pressures in short-term funding markets."
Joint action lessening interbank spreads
In a sign that central banks' concerted action aimed at easing money market tension is doing just that, banks' borrowing costs fell further on Thursday.
China's Zhou speaks on financial stability
Flexibility and adaptability must be improved if central banks are to successfully deal with financial instability, says Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China.
IMF's Kato adds voice to calls for transparency
Investors need greater transparency of the on- and off- balance sheet exposures of financial institutions, as well as of the interrelationships between asset managers, and special purpose vehicles, said Takatoshi Kato, a deputy managing director of the…
Imbalances to gradually decline despite turmoil
The unwinding of global imbalances is still likely to continue gradually in spite of the increased risks posed by the recent financial turmoil, says John Lipsky, the first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Credit channel has bigger effect on big banks
Rate hikes have a greater impact on the lending behaviour of bigger banks than smaller institutions, research published by the Chicago Federal Reserve finds.
Korean rates on hold amid uncertainty
The Bank of Korea's rate-setting monetary policy committee kept the benchmark uncollateralised overnight rate at 5% despite an increase in inflation.
Subprime aftermath risks exacerbating imbalances
Financial market turbulence, together with a significant slowdown in the United States, could lead to and be exacerbated by a disorderly resolution of global current account imbalances, says the Bank of Canada's latest Financial System Review.